TYCHE (Tykhe) - Greek Goddess of Fortune & Luck (Roman Fortuna) Fortune, Chance Nemesis and Tyche, Athenian red-figure amphora C5th B.C., Antikensammlung Berlin TYKHE (Tyche) was the goddess of fortune, chance, providence and fate. She was usually honoured in a more favourable light as Eutykhia (Eutychia), goddess of good fortune, luck, success and prosperity. Tykhe was depicted with a variety of attributes--holding a rudder, she was conceived as the divinity guiding and conducting the affairs of the world, and in this respect she was called one of the Moirai (Moirae, Fates); with a ball she represented the varying unsteadiness of fortune, unsteady and capable of rolling in any direction; with Ploutos (Plutus) or the cornucopia, she was the symbol of the plentiful gifts of fortune. Nemesis (Fair Distribution) was cautiously regarded as the downside of Tykhe, one who provided a check on extravagant favours conferred by fortune. The pair were often depicted as companions in Greek vase painting.

In the vase painting (right) Nemesis (Indignation) with her arm around Tykhe (Fortune) points an accusing fingure at Helene, who Aphrodite has persuaded to elope with Paris. FAMILY OF TYCHE [1] OKEANOS & TETHYS (Hesiod Theogony 360; Homeric Hymn 2.420) [2] ZEUS (Orphic Hymn 72, Pindar Olympian Ode) [3] PROMETHEUS (Alcman Frag 3) OFFSPRING [1] PLOUTOS (Aesop Fables 130, Pausanias 9.16.2) ENCYCLOPEDIA TYCHE (Tuchê). 1. The personification of chance or luck, the Fortuna of the Romans, is called by Pindar (Ol. xii. init.) a daughter of Zeus the Liberator. She was represented with different attributes. With a rudder, she was conceived as the divinity guiding and conducting the affairs of the world, and in this respect she is called one of the Moerae (Paus.

vii. 26. § 3; Pind. Fragm. 75, ed. Heyne); with a ball she represents the varying unsteadiness of fortune; with Plutos or the horn of Amalthea, she was the symbol of the plentiful gifts of fortune. (Artemid. ii. 37.) Tyche was worshipped at Pharae in Messenia (Paus. iv. 30. § 2); at Smyrna, where her statue, the work of Bupalus, held with one hand a globe on her head, and in the other carried the horn of Amalthea (iv. 30. § 4); in the arx of Sicyon (ii. 7. § 5); at Aegeira in Achaia, where she was represented with the horn of Amalthea and a winged Eros by her side (vii. 26. § 3; comp. Plut. De Fort. Rom. 4; Arnob. adv. Gent. vi. 25); in Elis (Paus. vi. 25. § 4); at Thebes (ix. 16.

§ 1); at Lebadeia, together with agathos daimôn (ix. 39. § 4); at Olympia (v. 15. § 4), and Athens. (Aelian, V. H. ix. 39; comp. Fortuna.) 2. A nymph, one of the playmates of Persephone. (Hom. Hymn. in Cer. 421.) 3. One of the daughters of Oceanus. (Hes. Theog. 360.) Source: Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. CLASSICAL LITERATURE QUOTES Nemesis and Eutychia, Athenian red-figure hydria C5th B.C., Badisches Landesmuseum Karlsruhe Hesiod, Theogony 346 ff (trans. Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C8th or C7th B.C.) : "Tethys bore to Okeanos (Oceanus) the swirling Potamoi (Rivers) . . .

She [Tethys] brought forth also a race apart of daughters, who with lord Apollon and the Rivers have the young in their keeping all over the earth, since this right from Zeus is given them. They are Peitho . . . Kalypso (Calypso), Eudora and Tykhe (Tyche) [in a list of names] . . . Now these are the eldest of the daughters who were born to Tethys and Okeanos, but there are many others beside these." Pindar, Nemean Ode 12. 1 ff (trans. Conway) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) : "Daughter of Zeus Eleutherios (Liberator), Tykhe (Tyche, Fortune) our saviour goddess." Alcman, Fragment 64 (trans. Campbell, Vol. Greek Lyric II) (Greek lyric C7th B.C.) : "Tykhe (Tyche, Fortune) sister of Eunomia (Right Order) and Peitho (Persuasion) daughter of Prometheus." Orphic Hymn 72 to Tyche (trans.

Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) : "Queen Tykhe (Tyche) . . . born of Eubouleos (Eubuleus) [Zeus, the Counsellor] famed." TYCHE COMPANION OF PERSEPHONE Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter 5 ff (trans.

Evelyn-White) (Greek epic C7th or 6th B.C.) : "She [Persephone] was playing with the deep-bosomed daughters of Okeanos (Oceanus) and gathering flowers over a soft meadow, roses and crocuses and beautiful violets, irises also and hyacinths and the narcissus." Homeric Hymn 2 to Demeter 415 ff : "[Persephone relates the story of her abduction to her mother Demete r:] All we were playing in a lovely meadow, Leukippe (Leucippe) and Phaino (Phaeno) and Elektra (Electra) and Ianthe, Melita also and Iakhe with Rhodea and Kallirhoe (Callirhoe) and Melobosis and Tykhe (Tyche) and Okyrhoe (Ocyrhoe), fair as a flower, Khryseis (Chryseis), Ianeira, Akaste (Acaste) and Admete and Rhodope and Plouto (Pluto) and charming Kalypso (Calypso); Styx too was there and Ourania (Urania

) and lovely Galaxaura with Pallas [Athena] who rouses battles and Artemis delighting in arrows: we were playing and gathering sweet flowers in our hands, soft crocuses mingled with irises and hyacinths, and rose-blooms and lilies, marvellous to see, and the narcissus which the wide earth caused to grow yellow as a crocus." Pausanias, Description of Greece 4.

30. 4 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : "Homer is the first whom I know to have mentioned Tykhe (Tyche) in his poems. He did so in the Hymn to Demeter, where he enumerates the daughters of Okeanos (Oceanus), telling how they played with Kore (Core) [Persephone] the daughter of Demeter, and making Tykhe one of them." TYCHE AS THE CONSTELLATION VIRGO The constellation Virgo was usually identified with the goddess Dike (Justice) . Pseudo-Hyginus, Astronomica 2. 25 (trans. Grant) (Roman mythographer C2nd A.D.) : “Constellation Virgo . . . Others call her Fortuna [Tykhe (Tyche)]." TYCHE GODDESS OF FORTUNE Pindar, Olympian Ode 12. 1 ff (trans.

Conway) (Greek lyric C5th B.C.) : "Daughter of Zeus Eleutherios (the Liberator), Tykhe (Tyche, Fortune) our saviour goddess, I pray your guardian care for Himera, and prosper her city's strength. For your hand steers the ships of ocean on their flying course, and rules on land the march of savage wars, and the assemblies of wise counsellors." Pindar, Isthmian Ode 4. 48 ff : "Yet even for those who strive, Tykhe (Tyche, Fortune) maybe conceals her light, ere yet their steps attain the furthest goal; for her gifts render both of good and ill. And often does the craft of lesser souls outstrip and bring to naught the strength of better men." Simonides, Fragment 8 (trans. Campbell, Vol.

Greek Lyric III) (Greek lyric C6 to C5th B.C.) : "If the greatest part of virtue is to die nobly, then Tykhe (Tyche, Fortune) granted it to us above all others; for we strove to crown Greece with freedom." Greek Lyric V Anonymous, Fragment 1019 (from Stobaeus, Anthology) : "Tykhe (Tyche, Fortune), beginning and end for mankind, you sit in Sophia's (Wisdom's) seat and give honour to mortal deeds; from you comes more good than evil, grace shines about your gold wing, and what the scale of your balance gives is the happiest; you see a way out of the impasse in troubles, and you bring bright light in darkness, you most excellent of gods." Aeschylus, Agamemnon 661 ff (trans.

Weir Smyth) (Greek tragedy C5th B.C.) : "[The ships of Agamemnon alone escaped the storms sent to destroy the Greek fleet returning from Troy :] Ourselves, however, and our ship, its hull unshattered, some power, divine not human, preserved by stealth or intercession, laying hand upon its helm; and Savior Fortune (tykhê sotêr) chose to sit aboard our craft so that it should neither take in the swelling surf at anchorage nor drive upon a rock-bound coast." Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 55 ff : "The awe of majesty [of kings] once unconquered, unvanquished, irresistible in war, that penetrated the ears and heart of the people, is now cast off [with death]. But there is still fear. And Eutykhia (Eutychia, Prosperity)--this, among mortals, is a god and more than a god.

But the balance of Dike (Justice) keeps watch: swiftly it descends on those in the light; sometimes pain waits for those who linger on the frontier of twilight; and others are claimed by strengthless night." Aeschylus, Libation Bearers 963 ff : "But soon time (khronos) that accomplishes all will pass the portals of our house, and then all pollution will be expelled from the hearth by cleansing rites that drive out calamity. The dice of fortune (tykhai) will turn as they fall and lie with faces all lovely to behold, favorably disposed to whoever stays in our house." Aeschylus, Doubtul Fragment 254 (from Stobaeus, Anthology 1. 6. 16) : "Sovereign of all the gods is Tykhe (Tyche, Fortune), and these other names are given her in vain; for she alone disposeth all things as she wills." "Tyche of Antioch", Greco-Roman marble statue from Rome, Vatican Museums Aesop, Fables 84 (from Chambry & Avianus, Fabulae 12) (trans.

Gibbs) (Greek fable C6th B.C.) : "A farmer struggling as he plunged his plough-share into the earth saw a treasure-trove leap forth from the furrow. All in a rush, he immediately abandoned the shameful plow, leading his oxen to better seed. Straightaway he obediently built an altar to the Goddess Ge/Tellus (Gaea, Earth), who had gladly bestowed on him the wealth contained within her. The Goddess Tykhe/Fortuna (Tyche, Fortune), feeling slighted that he had not thought her likewise worthy of an offering of incense, admonished the farmer, thinking of the future while he was rejoicing in his new-found affairs : ‘Now you do not offer the gifts that you have found to my shrine, but you prefer to make other gods the sharers of your good fortune. Yet when your gold is stolen and you are stricken with sadness, you will make your complaints to me first of all, weeping over your loss.’" [N.B. There are two extant versions of this fable, one in Greek and the other Latin.

In the latter the names Fortuna and Tellus are used in place of Tykhe and Ge.] Aesop, Fables 261 (from Chambry & Babrius, Fabulae Aesopeae 49) : "The Traveler and Tykhe (Tyche, Fortune). A Traveler wearied from a long journey lay down, overcome with fatigue, on the very brink of a deep well.

Just as he was about to fall into the water, Lady Tykhe (Fortune) it is said, appeared to him and waking him from his slumber thus addressed him : ‘Good Sir, pray wake up: for if you fall into the well, the blame will be thrown on me, and I shall get an ill name among mortals; for I find that men are sure to impute their calamities to me, however much by their own folly they have really brought them on themselves.’ Everyone is more or less master of his own fate." Aesop, Fables 535 (from Life of Aesop 94) : "Zeus once ordered Tykhe (Tyche, Fortune) to show mankind the two ways: one the way of freedom and the other the way of slavery. Prometheus made the way of freedom rough at the beginning, impassable and steep, with no water anywhere to drink, full of brambles, and beset with dangers on all sides at first. Eventually, however, it became a smooth plain, lined with paths and filled with groves of fruit trees and waterways. Thus the distressing experience ended in repose for those who breath the air of freedom.

The way of slavery, however, started out as a smooth plain at the beginning, full of flowers, pleasant to look at and quite luxurious, but in the end it became impassable, steep and insurmountable on all sides." [N.B. In another extant version of this fable Tykhe is replaced by Prometheus.] Aesop, Fables 469 (from Avianus 12) : "A farmer had started turning the earth with his plow when he saw a treasure suddenly spring into view from the depths of the furrow. His spirit soared as he abandoned the lowly plow and drove his oxen off to better pastures. He immediately built an altar to the earth goddess Tellus (Earth) [Gaia], worshipping her for having happily bestowed on him the wealth that had been buried inside her. While the farmer was rejoicing in his new circumstances, the goddess Fortuna (Fortune) [Tyche] was indignant that he had not considered her equally worthy of incense and offerings. She thus appeared to the man and gave him this warning about the future : ‘Instead of making an offering of your new-found wealth in my temple, you are sharing it with all the other gods.

Yet when your gold is stolen and you are stricken with grief, then you will turn to me first of all in your despair and deprivation!’" Aesop, Fables 470 (from Babrius 49) : "A workman had thoughtlessly fallen asleep one night next to a well. While he slept, he seemed to hear the voice of Tykhe (Tyche), the goddess of fortune, as she stood there beside him. ‘Hey you,’ the goddess said, ‘you'd better wake up! I am afraid that if you fall into the well, I will be the one that people blame, giving me a bad reputation. In general, people blame me for everything that happens to them, including the unfortunate events and tumbles for which a person really has only himself to blame.’" Plato, Laws 757b (trans. Bury) (Greek philosopher C4th B.C.) : "[Plato describes a lottery which he proposes be used to select the beauracrats of a State :] In the assignment of honors . . . employ the lot to give even results in the distributions . . . It is the judgment of Zeus [i.e.

Zeus the god whose will is reflected in the outcome of the lottery], and men it never assists save in small measure, but in so far as it does assist either States or individuals, it produces all things good; for it dispenses more to the greater and less to the smaller, giving due measure to each according to nature; and with regard to honors also, by granting the greater to those that are greater in goodness, and the less to those of the opposite character in respect of goodness and education, it assigns in proportion what is fitting to each . . . for the same reason it is necessary to make use also of the equality of the lot, on account of the discontent of the masses, and in doing so to pray, calling upon god [Zeus] and Tykhe Agathe (Tyche Agatha, Good Fortune) to guide for them the lot aright towards the highest justice." Pausanias, Description of Greece 4. 30. 4 - 6 (trans. Jones) (Greek travelogue C2nd A.D.) : "The people of Pharia [in Messenia] possess also a temple of Tykhe (Tyche) and an ancient image.

Homer is the first whom I know to have mentioned Tykhe in his poems. He did so in the Hymn to Demeter, where he enumerates the daughters of Okeanos (Oceanus), telling how they played with Kore (Core) [Persephone] the daughter of Demeter, and making Tykhe one of them. The lines are : ‘We all in a lovely meadow, Leukippe, Phaino, Electre and Ianthe, Melobosis and Tykhe and Okyrhoe with a face like a flower.’ He said nothing further about this goddess being the mightiest of gods in human affairs and displaying greatest strength, as in the Iliad he represented Athena and Enyo as supreme in war, and Artemis feared in childbirth, and Aphrodite heeding the affairs of marriage. But he makes no other mention of Tykhe.

Bouplaos (Buplaus) a skilful temple-architect and carver of images, who made the statue of Tykhe at Smyrna, was the first whom we know to have represented her with the heavenly sphere upon her head and carrying in one hand the horn of Amaltheia, as the Greeks call it, representing her functions to this extent. The poems of Pindar later contained references to Tykhe, and it is he who called her Supporter of the City." Orphic Hymn 72 to Tyche (trans. Taylor) (Greek hymns C3rd B.C. to 2nd A.D.) : "To Tykhe (Tyche, Fortune), Fumigation from Frankincense. Approach, queen Tykhe, with propitious mind and rich abundance, to my prayer inclined: placid and gentle, mighty named, imperial Artemis, born of Eubouleos [i.e. Zeus Eubuleus] famed, mankind's unconquered endless praise is thine, sepulchral, widely wandering power divine!

In thee our various mortal life is found, and come from thee in copious wealth abound; while others mourn thy hand averse to bless, in all the bitterness of deep distress. Be present, Goddess, to thy votaries kind, and give abundance with benignant mind." Aelian, Historical Miscellany 2. 29 (trans. Wilson) (Greek rhetorician C2nd to 3rd A.D.) : "Pittakos (Pittacus) [ruler of Mytilene ca 600 B.C.] made a ladder for the temples of Mytilene, not to serve any useful purpose but simply as an offering. His intention was to hint that fortune (tykhe) moves up and down, with the lucky as it were climbing up and the unlucky coming down." Aelian, Historical Miscellany 3. 23 : "Alexandros' [Alexander the Great's] achievements were splendid . . . Let most of it be put down to Tykhe (Tyche, Fortune) who favoured Alexandros, if one wishes to be cautious.

But Alexandros was great because he was not defeated by Tykhe (Fortune) and did not give up in the face of her persistent attentions to him." Aelian, Historical Miscellany 13. 43 : "Note that the Athenian general Timotheus was reckoned to be fortunate. People said fortune was responsible, and Timotheus had no part in it. They ridiculed him on the stage, and painters portrayed him asleep, with Tykhe (Fortune) hovering above his head and pulling the cities into her net." Nonnus, Dionysiaca 16. 220 ff (trans. Rouse) (Greek epic C5th A.D.) : "And you Tykhe (Tyche, Luck), how many shapes you take, how you make playthings of the children of men! Be gracious, all-subduer!" FORTUNA ROMAN GODDESS OF FORTUNE Fortuna was the Roman equivalent of the Greek Tykhe. She also resembles the Greek goddesses of fate Moira and Aisa. Seneca, Hercules Furens 524 ff (trans.

Miller) (Roman tragedy C1st A.D.) : "O Fortuna (Fortune), jealous of the brave, in allotting thy favours how unjust art thou unto the good!” Seneca, Medea 159 ff : "Fortuna (Fortune) fears the brave, the cowardly overwhelms." Seneca, Medea 286 ff : "The estate of thrones, which fickle Fortuna (Fortune) disturbs with changeful lot." Seneca, Oedipus 6 ff : "Does any man rejoice in royalty? O deceitful good, how many ills dost hide beneath thy smiling face! As lofty peaks do ever catch the blasts, and as the cliff, which with its jutting rocks cleaves the vast deep, is beaten by the waves of even a quiet sea, so does exalted empire lie exposed to Fortuna (Fortune)." Seneca, Oedipus 81 ff : "What boots it, husband, to make woe heavier by lamentation?

This very thing, methinks, is regal--to face adversity and, the more dubious thy station and the more the greatness of empire totters to its fall, the more firm to stand, brave with unfaltering foot. ‘Tis not a manly thing to turn the back to Fortuna (Fortune)." Seneca, Oedipus 786 ff : "How heartless Fortuna (Fortune) assails me on every hand!" Seneca, Phaedra 978 ff : "Fortuna (Fortune) without order rules the affairs of men, scatters her gifts with unseeing hand, fostering the worse; dire lust prevails against pure men, and crime sits regnant in the lofty palace. The rabble rejoice to give government to the vile, paying high honours even where they hate.

Warped are the rewards of uprightness sad virtue gains; wretched poverty dogs the pure, and the adulterer, strong in wickedness, reigns supreme." Seneca, Phaedra 1141 ff : "On doubtful wings flies the inconstant hour, nor does swift Fortuna (Fortune) pledge loyalty to any." Seneca, Troades 258 ff : "Ungoverned power no one can long retain; controlled, it lasts; and the higher Fortuna (Fortune) has raised and exalted the might of man, the more does it become him to be modest in prosperity, to tremble at shifting circumstance, and to fear the gods when they are overkind. That greatness can be in a moment overthrown I have learned by conquering. Does Troy make us too arrogant and bold? We Greeks are standing in the place whence she has fallen." Seneca, Troades 695 ff : "Pity a mother, calmly and patiently listen to her pious prayers, and the higher the gods have exalted thee, the more gently bear down upon the fallen. What is given to misery is a gift to Fortuna (Fortune) [i.e.

the goddess accepts generosity to the miserable as an offering, which she repays in the hour of need]. So may thy chaste wife's couch see thee again; so may Laertes [your father] prolong his years till he welcome thee home once more; so may thy son succeed thee." Seneca, Troades 734 ff : "As for Troy's throne, let Fortuna (Fortune) bear that whithersoe'er she will." Statius, Silvae 3. 3. 85 (trans. Mozley) (Roman poetry C1st A.D.) : "And now from on high a light illumined his loyal home, and Fortuna (Fortune) towering to her loftiest entered apace." Statius, Silvae 5. 1. 137 ff : "What god joined Fortuna (Fortune) and Invidia (Envy) [Nemesis or Zelos] in truceless kinship? Who bade the cruel goddesses engage in unending war? Will the one set her mark upon no house, but the other must straightway fix it with her grim glance, and with savage hand make havoc of its gladness?

Happy and prosperous was this abode, no shock assailed it, no thought of sorrow; what cause was there to have fear of Fortuna, treacherous and fickle though she be, while Caesar was favourable? Yet the jealous Fata (Fate) [Moira] found a way, and barbarous violence entered that blameless home." Apuleius, The Golden Ass 4. 31 ff (trans. Walsh) (Roman novel C2nd A.D.) : "The lowest possible specimen of humanity, one who as the victim of Fortuna (Fortune) has lost status, inheritance and security, a man so disreputable that nowhere in the world can he find an equal in wretchedness." Apuleias, The Golden Ass 7. 2 ff : "Learned men of old had good grounds for envisaging and describing Fortuna (Fortune) as blind and utterly sightless [i.e. like Ploutos (Plutus) the god of wealth].

That goddess, I mused, ever bestows her riches on the wicked and the unworthy, never favouring anyone by discerning choice, but on the contrary preferring to lodge with precisely the people to whom she should have given wide berth, if she had eyes to see. Worst of all, she foists on us reputations at odds with and contrary to the truth, so that the evil man boasts in the glory of being honest, while by contrast he transparently innocent man is afflicted with a damaging reputation." Apuleius, The Golden Ass 6. 19 ff : "I implore you by your personal Fortuna (Fortune) and your Genios (Genius, Guardian Spirit)to come to the aid of this destitute old man." Apuleius, The Golden Ass 9.

1 ff : "But truly, if Fortuna (Fortune) disapproves, nothing can turn out right for any mortal, and neither wise planning nor shrewd remedies can overtun or reshape the pre-ordained arrangements of divine providence." ANCIENT GREEK & ROMAN ART Goddess Fortuna: Goddess of Luck, Chance and Fate 4968 Goddess of Chance, Luck and Fate The Goddess Fortuna was the goddess of luck, good and bad in Ancient Rome. She was an extremely popular goddess in Ancient times. Fortuna was the first born child of Jupiter. Goddess Fortuna is often seen carrying a cornucopia, also called Horn Of Plenty. Unlimited amounts of riches pour out of the cornucopia. Goddess Fortuna was known to help pregnant women. She was also known as “Fortuna Primigenia”, meaning “the first mother”. The Wheel of Fortune The goddess Fortuna ruled the wheel of fortune. When Fortuna spun the wheel no one knew ahead of time where they would “drop”. Their luck could change for the better or worse.

Fortune herself is seated behind the Wheel “Wheel of Fortune” (c.1455-1462), British Library The wheel of fortune started with the goddess Fortuna a couple thousand years ago. It has been a part of our lives since Ancient Rome. We will forever be fascinated by the spinning fortune wheel with hopeful anticipation that the wheel will stop just in time to bring us a bit of good luck. We often find them at fairs and amusement parks. Roman Fortuna Temple Just outside South-East of Rome at Palestrina, there was a large temple dedicated to the goddess Fortuna. It was one of the largest in Ancient Rome. This temple housed an oracle. “Temple of Fortuna – Palladio – Elevation” by Andrea Palladio – Royal Institute of British Architects The Goddess Tyche In Ancient Greece the goddess Tyche was the ruler of luck. Tyche simply means “luck”. The goddess Fortuna is the Roman counterpart of Tyche. She was the daughter of Zeus. There were many temples in her honor. The temple Tychaeon in Alexandria was told to be one of the most spectacular in the Hellenistic world.

It was believed that when no rational explanation of a happening could be found, it was the goddess Tyche who was responsible. Tyche could take away goods or hand out good fortune. Any person who did not appreciate the gifts from Tyche would find himself in deep trouble. It was expected that a person showed gratitude and sacrificed some of his newly gained riches to the gods. It was also expected that he should spend some of the money to help less fortunate citizens. Any who spent his time boasting about his abundance and not willing to share, would soon have an unpleasant meeting with Nemesis. Nemesis was the daughter of Oceanus. She was sent by Tyche to humiliate all ungrateful and selfish receivers of riches. Soon they would find their lives in a sorry state. The riches were destined to disappear. Machiavelli on Goddess Fortuna Chapter 25 in the book “The Prince” by Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli (1469 –1527) is devoted to Fortuna. He argues that Fortuna only controls half of the fate of a human being. The other half is the result of a person’s actions.

“Fortune may be the arbiter of one half of our actions, but she still leaves us the other half, or perhaps a little less, to our free will.” Machiavelli In Sonnet 29 William Shakespeare refers to the goddess Fortuna: When in disgrace with Fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself and curse my fate, Wishing me like to one more rich in hope, Featured like him, like him with friends possess’d, Desiring this man’s art, and that man’s scope, With what I most enjoy contented least. Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee, and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate; For thy sweet love remember’d such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings.

–William Shakespeare O Fortuna Poem from the 13th Century O Fortuna, like the moon you are changeable, ever waxing and waning; hateful life first oppresses and then soothes as fancy takes it; poverty and Power it melts them like ice. you whirling wheel, you are malevolent, well-being is vain and always fades to nothing, shadowed and veiled you plague me too; now through the game I bring my bare back to your villainy. Fate is against me in health and virtue, driven on and weighted down, always enslaved. So at this hour without delay pluck the vibrating strings; since Fate strikes down the strong man, everyone weep with me! Fortuna, Roman Goddess of Luck, Chance, and Fortune Roman Fortuna is the Roman Goddess of Luck, Fate, and Fortune, as Her name implies. She was a very popular Goddess, and was worshipped under many epithets depending on the type of luck one wished to invoke or the circumstances in play.

She had many temples in Rome itself, as well as having important cult-centers in Antium (the modern Anzio), a city on the west coast of Italy about 30 miles south of Rome, and Praeneste (modern Palestrina), about 20 miles south-east of Rome, both of which were cities of Latium, the land of the Latini tribes. Her many temples in Rome, and the various aspects of Her worship are a reflection of the manners in which She was honored: from personal Goddess, overseeing the fate of the individual mother, young man, or soldier, to a Goddess of the State, ensuring the fortune of the populace, the luck of the Emperor, or the glorious fate of the entire Roman Empire. Fortuna was usually depicted holding in one hand a cornucopia, or a horn of plenty, from which all good things flowed in abundance, representing Her ability to bestow prosperity; in the other She generally has a ship's rudder, to indicate that She is the one who controls how lives and fates are steered.

She could also be shown enthroned, with the same attributes of rudder and cornucopia, but with a small wheel built into the chair, representing the cycles of fate and the ups and downs of fortune. Sometimes She is blind, as an acknowledgment that good luck does not always come to those who seem to most deserve it; at other times She is described as having wings, much like many Etruscan Goddesses—and indeed She was equated with the old Etruscan Fate Goddess Nortia , who was often shown winged. The name Fortuna finds its root in the Latin fero, meaning "to bring, win, receive, or get". She may have originally been a Goddess of Fertility, Who brought prosperity and success in the form of abundant harvests and offspring. Her worship in Rome traditionally goes back to the time of Ancus Martius, the 4th King of Rome, who is said to have reigned from 640-616 BCE.

According to the propaganda of the time (and the Romans invented an awful lot of it to make it seem that their city had always been destined for greatness, and wasn't just some upstart town founded by a bunch of sheep herders on some hills surrounded by malaria-infested swampland, which it was), when Fortuna first came to Rome, She immediately threw off Her shoes and discarded Her wings, announcing that She'd found Her true home and intended to never leave it. Alternatively, Fortuna's name may derive from that of the Etruscan Goddess Veltha or Voltumna , whose name encompasses ideas of turning and the alternating seasons. Voltumna in turn may be related to the Roman Goddess Volumna , Who watched over and protected children; and both of these themes are found with Fortuna, who was often depicted with a wheel, and who was said to predict the fates of children at their births. As a Goddess of Fate Fortuna naturally had the power to foretell the future; and under Her aspect of Fortuna Primigenia in Praeneste She had an oracle, in which tablets inscribed with messages were chosen from a jar. She also had an oracular shrine at Her cult-center in Antium.

Fortuna had a very old temple in Rome on a hill between the Forum Romanum (the Roman Forum) and the Forum Boarium (supposedly the old cattle-market), near to the temple of Mater Matuta . Both temples had the same dedication day, the 10th of June, and each had a horseshoe-shaped altar before it of the earliest type. Fortuna's temple had a very old statue of gilded wood inside, also of an archaic type; and the altar and statue indicate that Her worship dates at least to the earliest days of Rome, if She is not an earlier Goddess of the Latins. The Emperor Trajan (97-117 CE) dedicated a temple to Fortuna, at which offerings were made to the Goddess on the 1st day of January, at the start of the New Year, probably to ensure good luck and success for the coming year. This temple was dedicated to Fortuna in all of Her aspects. With Greek influence, Fortuna was equated to Tykhe, their Goddess of Luck and Fortune.

Under the title Dame Fortune, Fortuna never lost Her power as an allegorical figure—She makes an appearance on card 10 of the Tarot Major Arcana, the Wheel of Fortune, and She is still to some extent honored today, for She features in gamblers' prayers to "Lady Luck". She is associated with the Goddess Felicitas , the personification of happiness, and Spes , the Goddess of Hope. As mentioned above, Fortuna had quite a few aspects, many of which had their own holidays and centers of worship; I treat them here separately: Fortuna Respiciens, Roman Goddess of Provident Fortune Roman Fortuna Respiciens ("Fortune Who Provides") is one aspect of the Roman Goddess of Chance and Fate, Fortuna. She is that type of chance that provides what is needed to the lucky, even though the odds may be against them. Her title can also be interpreted as "Provident Fortune"; and in this we see the idea of divine assistance or intervention in times of need.

In his essay On the Fortune of the Romans, Plutarch says of Fortuna: " whenever she busies herself and takes command, she provides from unexpected sources against all emergencies by implanting intelligence in the unreasoning and senseless, and prowess and daring in the craven." Her temple in Rome was located somewhere on the Esquiline Hill; like many of Fortuna's temples in Rome, its building was attributed to Servius Tullius, an early king of Rome and devoté of Fortuna. She had another shrine on the Palatine, and a street there that presumably led to it or passed by it was known as the Vicus Fortunae Respicientis. Fortuna Respiciens, though Roman, was also known by a couple of epithets in Greek: Epistrephomenê, "[She Who] Turns Around", probably referring to Her ability to change bad luck to good; and Ouk Euaphêgêton, "Not Easy to Describe", perhaps meaning "the Instrutable". --!> All art here ©2004-2013 Thalia Took. You are free to borrow the images here for your own personal or religious use.

If you use any on your personal non-commercial website, please credit the work to Thalia Took. If you can link back to this site, I'd appreciate it. Always ask permission first for any other requests for use of this art. Obscure Goddess Online Directory text ©2006-2012 Thalia Took, and please do not reproduce it. Questions or comments? E-mail me . Lady Luck - Roman Goddess Fortuna Statue - Great Poker Trophy The 29 inch Fortuna statue ships FedEx or UPS Ground only. Please select FedEx or UPS at check out. Usually ships in 1- 2 business days. Fortuna is Lady Luck, who promises riches The Goddess or Fate who ruled each individual's "Wheel of Fortune," called Tyche by the Greeks, was envisioned as a kindly deity similar to a guardian angel. Her Roman name was Fortuna. Fortuna was the Roman Goddess of Fortune, chance, and prosperity, and one of the most popular Roman deities during the period of Servius Tullius. She was the Roman adaptation of the Greek Goddess of Fortune, Tykhe. Other names for her were Primigenia, Virilis, Respiciens, Muliebris, and Annonaria.

She is usually portrayed standing, blindfolded, wearing a rich dress and holding either the cornucopia, rudder, ball, or wheel of fortune. Tyche *** Tyche, the goddess of Fortune Who was Tyche? Tyche was the Greek goddess of Fortune and one of the extraordinary number of gods and goddesses worshipped by the Ancient Greeks. The legend and myth about Tyche has been passed down through the ages and plays an important role in the history of the Ancient World and the study of the Greek classics. Tyche was associated with the myth of the Oceanides in which she was depicted as was an elder nymph, a goddess of the heavenly clouds, who was associated with the Titans and personified the blessing of Good Fortune. Her father was the Titan god Oceanus and mother was Tethys. She was given immortality and the powers of a goddess through Zeus after she helped saving Olympus from the scheming of Gaia during the battle with the Titans. Later stories Oceanus and his wife Tethys. Later myths concerning the Olympian gods tell that Tyche was the daughter of Hermes and Aphrodite .

She was worshipped in various parts of Greece, but more particularly by the Athenians, who believed in her special preference for their city. Picture of Tyche Facts about Tyche Tyche features in the religious beliefs of the ancient Greeks which are based on the idea that these supernatural beings resembled mortals but possessed great magical and mystic powers. The following information, facts and profile provides a fast overview of Tyche: Tyche Profile & Fact File Role & Function: Her function is described as being the goddess of fortune and luck Status: Daughter of the Titan gods Oceanus and Tethys or alternatively Aphrodite and Hermes Symbols: The wheel, wings, the sceptre, cornucopia (horn of plenty), ship rudders and the sceptre Gender: Female Roman Counterpart: The Roman equivalent of Tyche was Fortuna Name of Husband: Unmarried Tyche - Good and Bad Luck Tyche personified the combination of unexpected, random, circumstances that we call luck, fortune, chance or fluke can be good or evil. The element of ill fortune and bad luck is reflected by words such as disaster, misfortune and unlucky whereas good luck and fortune reflect success, and prosperity.

While these are seen as two separate manifestations, they are always seen as Tyche, a single, united Goddess. She is however seen as irresponsible and fickle in her awards. She heaps gifts from a horn of plenty, others she deprives of all that they have. If a person succeeded in all he undertook without possessing any special merit of his own, Tyche was said to have smiled on his birth. If undeserved bad luck followed him through life, and his efforts resulted in failure, it was attributed to her adverse influence. As time passed another goddess emerged called Eutychia who was the Goddess of Happiness who possessed only the positive attributes of Tyche. Tyche (Roman Counterpart was Fortuna) When the Roman Empire conquered the Greeks in 146BC, the Romans assimilated various elements from other cultures and civilisations, including the gods and goddesses that were worshipped by the Ancient Greeks. Many of the Greek gods and goddesses were therefore adopted by the Romans but were given Latin names. Her Roman counterpart was Fortuna. Picture of Tyche (Fortuna) and her Symbols The Symbols of Tyche Each ancient Greek god and goddess were associated with special symbols, animals and attributes.

The Symbols of Tyche helped the ancient Greeks instantly recognize the gods and goddesses that were depicted in the pictures, mosaics, statues and images. She is depicted in various forms some bearing in her hand two rudders, appearing blindfolded or standing on a ball or wheel, indicative of the fickleness and ever-revolving changes of fortune. The symbols of Tyche were the wheel, wings, the sceptre, cornucopia (horn of plenty), a ball, ship rudders and the sceptre. The meanings of her symbols were as follows: The two rudders These symbolize the ability of Tyche to steer or guide lives in two directions creating the fortunate and the unfortunate among mortals The wheel The wheel symbolized the wheel of fortune The sceptre

Question: Who was the Roman goddess of chance and fate?
Answer: FORTUNA